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<\/a><\/p>\nThe first of these stories featuring an old couple and a host of zany characters appeared in the\u00a0Tamil weekly\u00a0Kumudham <\/i>in 1963 and has entertained fans ever since.\u00a0<\/i>The writer was Bhagyam Ramasami<\/a>;\u00a0the\u00a0\u00a0illustrator Jayraj<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sita\u00a0Patti<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>[full name: Sitalakshmi Appusamy], the\u00a0madisar<\/em>-clad sixty-plus bombshell, is the president of a ladies club called\u00a0PMK<\/strong>\u00a0(Patti Munetra Kazhagam<\/em>). \u00a0As “Sita, the trouble-shooter” she pens an agony-aunt column for a glossy periodical. Patti cracks the daily\u00a0The Hindu<\/em>\u00a0crossword well before noon. She peppers every sentence with English words, Madras socialite-style.<\/p>\n Gita Patt<\/b><\/i>i<\/em><\/strong>, the “ugly rustic” down the street, is patti’s sworn enemy. At the other end of the spectrum, the moneyed\u00a0Ponamma David<\/b><\/i>\u00a0with an eye on PMK president post, is Patti’s rival. Ponamma’s wealth is no match for our Patti’s wit, so you can say, Sita is pretty unassailable in her post as president-ji\u00a0<\/em>of the ladies club.<\/p>\n The activities of\u00a0PMK<\/strong>\u00a0keep Patti busy. Patti in turn keeps her husband, the Madras-bashai\u00a0speaking Thatha<\/em>, (real name:\u00a0Appusamy)<\/em><\/strong>, busy with work around the house. This makes Patti look like a despot, but these errands keep Appusamy out of trouble. What capers can\u00a0un viejo<\/em>, an 80+ man pull, you ask? Well, for an answer you have to read the kite-fight episode of\u00a0Maanja Menace<\/em>\u00a0or, at least, about the time our Thatha, a Kushboo fan, had the actress’s name tattooed on his chest.<\/p>\n Appusamy is quite capable of getting into trouble all by himself, but he is ably assisted by his disreputable buddies\u00a0Rasagundu<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(rasam, for short) and the Kannada-speaking weekend gambler Bhim Rao<\/em><\/strong>. Gritty slum-dwellers\u00a0Pachondi<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(chameleon) and\u00a0Ara<\/i><\/b>-Blade Arunachalam<\/i><\/b>\u00a0make their appearance in some of the zanier escapades. Rasagundu and Bhim regularly “double-cross” Appusamy, not out of malice, but only for petty gain. The wily Patti foils her husband’s schemes by offering his gang members suitable bribes from time to time.<\/p>\n I have missed my bus\/train stop, at least once reading these paperbacks. There should be a collector’s edition that doesn’t fall part quite so easily. (Publisher Badri Seshadri, are you listening ? — well apparently he was, but Jayraj is no longer the artist, alas.)\u00a0Of these escapades, I have my favorites– in some Sita wins and on some\u00a0very, very<\/em>\u00a0rare<\/strong> occasions, Appusamy does too. Hard to believe, I know, but it does happen once in a blue moon. Yes, there were times when our heroine has had to accept defeat. And Patti has had to pore over essays like\u00a0“Ten Sure Ways To Attract Your Hubby” <\/strong><\/em>to appease the much-bullied man.<\/p>\n